


Ties That Bind

by weethreequarter



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Background Pepper Potts/Happy Hogan - Freeform, Bucky is a gossip, Canonical Character Death, Developing Friendships, Domestic Fluff, Families of Choice, Gen, Grandchildren, Grief/Mourning, Nazis are dumb, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Polyamory, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Retirement, Teenage Pregnancy, implied Peter Parker/Johnny Storm, past Steve Rogers/Peggy Carter/Daniel Sousa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-03-13 14:35:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18942949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weethreequarter/pseuds/weethreequarter
Summary: Steve's lucky, luckier than most. He knows this. He's lived three lifetimes.One, in the past, his original time. Then, in the future, after the ice. And finally, with Peggy and Daniel.He spends the end of that third lifetime with Morgan Stark.





	Ties That Bind

**Author's Note:**

> So, this happened...
> 
> This is an Endgame hate free zone. If you do not agree with the end of Endgame, I politely request you take your displeasure elsewhere.

**Age 4**

“Thank you for doing this,” Pepper says as she lets him in.

“It’s no problem,” Steve replies, but the air between them is stilted and awkward. Steve doesn’t blame her. For Pepper, it’s only been months since Steve was young, and only a few years since he walked out on her husband. It’s understandable that she’s awkward. Steve’s awkward too. He’s had a long time to come to terms with everything that happened. 

“I didn’t know who else to ask,” she continues, anything to replace the painful silence. “Happy’s in Europe with Peter, and-“

“Pepper,” Steve cuts her off. “It’s fine. I’m happy to help. It’s not like it’s new to me,” he smiles. 

Pepper nods, then leads him into the house proper. He remembers it, vaguely, from his two visits - one to ask Tony for help, then the second for Tony’s funeral - but he never really looked before. He drinks it in now. At least, he doesn’t until he spots the little girl on the couch, eyeing him with familiar iron eyes.

“Hi Morgan,” he smiles. “You’ve grown so much since the last time I saw you.”

A lifetime ago, yet only a few months. Time travel is weird. He shouldn’t be surprised that she’s changed so much in such a short time, not after all the time he and Peg and Daniel spent saying the same thing about their own children and grandchildren, but he is. He’s also surprised by how much she’s like Tony. 

“Morgan, this is Steve,” Pepper explains. “He’s gonna watch you while I go to work, okay?”

Morgan frowns at him, then she slips off of the couch and picks up one of her toys.

“She doesn’t talk much,” Pepper murmurs, and Steve’s heart aches. He remembers holding his own daughter after Daniel died, brushing away her tears, wishing she would just talk to him. 

“That’s okay. Go, we’ll be fine,” he promises.

Pepper bends to kiss Morgan’s cheek and murmur words of goodbye. Steve turns away, giving them a semblance of privacy even though the serum ensures he hears every word. Then Pepper’s gone, and he’s left alone with Tony’s daughter. 

He doesn’t push her. He knows that the more you push kids, the more they pull away. So he sits on the couch, picks up his sketch book and pencil and begins to draw, glancing up every so often to check on Morgan. A few times, he finds her looking at him, looking away quickly when she realises she has his attention. 

Until finally, after about an hour, a small voice asks, “What are you doing?”

“I’m drawing,” Steve smiles. 

Morgan shifts onto her knees.

“Can I see?” 

“Of course.” Steve turns the pad round, showing her the sketch of the Howlies gathered around a jeep, laughing and teasing each other mercifully. Morgan’s eyes widen almost comically and she leans forward a little.

“You didn’t draw that,” she frowns.

“Yes, I did,” Steve nods. 

“It’s good,” Morgan admitted. 

“Thank you.”

“Who are they?”

“They’re old friends,” Steve explains. “I used to work with them. They were idiots.”

She smiles a little at that. 

“Do you wanna see some more?”

Morgan nods. She unfolds herself then throws herself onto the couch with speed that only small children have, pressing herself into his side. It’s been a long time since Steve’s had a small child cuddle up next to him like this. It feels like coming home. 

He shows her all the sketches in this pad. There’s Peggy and Daniel and their children in so many variations. There’s his daughter, about the same age as Morgan is now, glaring up at him stubbornly, her face the perfect blend of Daniel and Peggy. There’s Bucky, pre-war, and Sam soaring through the clouds with his wings. There’s the Avengers, the original six, standing in a circle in New York.

Morgan’s fingers drift over that drawing, hovering over Iron Man, and Steve’s heart aches. He wishes, not for the first time, that it could’ve been him who put on the gauntlet and made the sacrifice. That Tony could’ve survived and been with Pepper and Morgan where he belonged. 

“I want to draw,” Morgan announces suddenly.

So Steve sets her up at the table, with paper and pencils. Then she insists that he has to draw too, in the chair next to her. He smiles and obliges, continuing with his sketch of the Howlies.

“Mine’s not as good,” Morgan announces after a while. 

Her eyebrows twist as she stares angrily at her drawing. It’s Iron Man, Steve can tell, but only thanks to the colours and the years spent interpreting his own children’s drawing. 

“That’s because I’m a lot older than you,” Steve explains, “So I’ve had a lot more time to practise. That’s all. If you practise, you can be as good as me. Or better. Come here.”

He pulls Morgan onto his lap and opens the pad to a new page. He puts the pencil in her hand, covering it with his own. He guides her hand until an outline of DUM-E appears on the page. She giggles, and Steve smiles. 

By the time Pepper returns, they’ve finished the outline and Morgan’s painstakingly colouring the picture, taking extra care not to go over the lines. She’s doing a good job. Steve’s impressed. Apparently she has Tony’s precision focus. 

“Mommy! Look what Steve and I drew!” Morgan cries, launching herself from the chair  towards her mother. 

“Wow. That’s amazing,” Pepper replies. “God job, sweetheart.”

“Steve helped. Cause I’m not very good yet,” Morgan replies. “But I’m gonna practise lots and then I’ll be better than him.”

Steve grins. 

She’s definitely Tony’s daughter. 

Morgan waves cheerfully when he leaves, but it’s still awkward between him and Pepper. Which is fine. Just because he looked after her daughter for a few hours, doesn’t mean everything’s forgiven. 

“Thank you Steve,” Pepper says, and she’s so earnest, it breaks his heart. 

“It was my pleasure,” he insists. “I miss them being that age.”

Pepper nods slowly.

“Did you…?”

“My partners,” he replies. “We raised them together. All three of us.”

“I’m glad you found some happiness,” she says.

“Thank you,” Steve swallows. “I hope you find the same.”

Pepper glances towards Morgan. She shrugs. 

“I have her.”

X

Steve doesn’t expect anything else. He thinks, that’ll be it, and continues on with his life. He goes back to his apartment, he texts Sam, and he sends Bucky memes, and calls his grandchildren. And he’s happy with that.

Until his phone is ringing and it’s Pepper.

“Steve. Hi.”

“Pepper. Is everything alright?” he frowns.

“Yes,” she replies in a voice that says no. But it says no in an _I’m uncomfortable_ way rather than _the world is ending_ kind of way. “Morgan really loved drawing with you the other day,” she explains. “She’s obsessed. And I was wondering if you’d mind teaching her how to draw? I know she’s young, but-“

“You’re never too young to know what you love,” Steve interrupts. “If she wants to learn, and you’re happy for me to teach her, then I’d love to.”

“Alright. Thank you,” Pepper replies.

It’s still awkward. But Steve owes Tony, owes him so much. And while he can’t repay him, he can teach his daughter to draw.

X

**Age 7**

Across the table from him, Morgan huffs out a sigh. She looks and sounds so like her father, that Steve wants to laugh. Another sigh.

“You alright there, Miss Morgan?” he asks, lips twitching.

“I’m fine,” she insists.

“You sure?” he prods.

“I think mom’s dating Happy,” Morgan announces.

“Wait, what?”

Steve stares at her. Morgan stares back.

“So you didn’t know,” she says eventually, and she sounds pleased about that, even if she still looks pissed.

“No,” Steve replies, “I didn’t.”

He can see it though. Kind of. Pepper and Happy have known each other for so long, and Happy’s been so good to both her and Morgan. He has weekly cheeseburger dates with Morgan, has done ever since Tony died. Steve knows that Happy and Peter’s aunt were a thing for a while, but it ended a while ago.

(Bucky is the worst gossip in the team definitely, and possibly in the world. He reads every gossip magazine, and watches every celebrity show, and abuses his enhanced hearing to listen in to conversations around Avengers Tower regularly. He then feels the need to update Steve on all of these, even though Steve doesn’t give a shit)

“And how do you feel about that?” Steve asks, although he has a pretty good idea exactly how Morgan feels about that.

“I don’t get it,” she bursts out. “She’s supposed to love my dad.”

“She does,” Steve replies, because even after all these years, it’s obvious that Pepper still loves and misses Tony.

“Then she can’t love Happy,” Morgan insists.

“You can love more than one person. I did.”

“How?” Morgan frowns. She shifts onto her knees, leaning across the table towards him. 

“You know I told you about Peggy, right? How I met her during the war and I fell in love with her?”

Morgan nods.

“Well, when I got back to her, she’d met somebody else. His name was Daniel. He lost a leg during the war, and he was a great guy. And I was happy that she was happy. But we still loved each other. But that didn’t mean that she didn’t love Daniel. Then, as we got to know each other, Daniel and I, we started to love each other too. All three of us loved the other. Peggy and Daniel were married, but they loved me just as much. We were together for a long time. We raised kids together. You understand?”

“I guess,” Morgan says. “Didn’t you get jealous?”

“No,” he shakes his head. “Peggy and Daniel made each other happy. And I liked seeing them happy. So I wasn’t jealous. Besides, you know your mom’s always going to love you best, right?”

“I guess,” Morgan smiles.

“That’s my girl,” Steve winks. 

Morgan jumps out of her chair and rounds the table, winding her arms around his neck. Steve puts a hand on the small of her back, marvelling as he always does how small she is. She’s grown so much in the past three years, but she’s still dainty and small. She has Pepper’s bone structure and Tony’s lack of height. 

“I love you five hundred,” she whispers in his ear.

Steve smiles. He’s gained fifty points since last time. He kisses her forehead.

“I love you infinity, kiddo.”

X

**Age 11**

Throughout the ceremony, Morgan sends him photos. He wasn’t invited, and he didn’t expect to be. He and Pepper, they’re not friends. Not really. They tolerate each other, and at times Steve thinks she even likes him. But it’s not friendship. There’s too much history and too many gaps between them for friendship. The only reason they have any kind of relationship is because Steve taught her daughter how to draw, and Morgan latched onto him like a limpet and never let go.

So much so, that she asks Pepper if she can stay with Steve while she and Happy are away on their honeymoon. Steve feels the need to make it very clear to Pepper that this was not his idea, but she just rolls her eyes.

“I know my daughter, Steve,” she assures him. “This has her written all over it.” 

Even so, Pepper agrees. And after the ceremony, Peter Parker drops Morgan off at Steve’s apartment, waving to them from the street before getting back into a car that is definitely not his. When Steve looks questioningly at Morgan, she grins.

“Peter has a boyfriend,” she informs him. “He’s called Johnny and he’s hot.”

“You are way too young to think boys are hot,” Steve replies. 

“He’s hot because he’s on fire,” Morgan snickers and Steve’s confused until she explains that Peter’s boyfriend is Johnny Storm and he can literally light himself on fire. 

Steve’s a little out of the loop on the superhero community these days, despite Bucky’s best efforts. 

Morgan looks beautiful in her dress. It’s a deep red, with gold straps, and it remind him viciously of the Iron Man suit. He doesn’t realise how much, until he tries to speak and feels the lump pressing on his vocal cords. He swallows, and tries to distract himself in the kitchen, until Morgan joins him, now in Captain Marvel pyjamas and fuzzy slippers. 

“Steve. You’re not cooking, are you?” Morgan asks. 

“What’s wrong with my cooking?” he replies. He knows what’s wrong with his cooking. A lot. There’s a lot wrong with his cooking.

“How can you be like two hundred years old and not know how to cook?” Morgan throws her arms up in despair.

Steve opens his mouth to argue that he’s not that old, but then he does a quick calculation, because his time on earth is always confusing, and realises that between the ice and the time travel, yes, he is nearly two hundred years old. 

Fuck.

“Daniel was the cook in our house. Besides, I’m not cooking, I was going to make hot chocolate for my best girl, but if you’re not interested…”

“No, no, no!” Morgan cries. “I want hot chocolate.”

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“May I have hot chocolate?” she corrects herself. “Please?”

“Of course,” Steve smiles. 

They sit at the table and Morgan gives him all the gossip from the wedding. She takes out her phone to show him all the pictures she didn’t send - all two hundred of them - and Steve feels old when he sees Peter Parker as an adult with a drink in his hand, and Rhodey with grey hair. 

Then remembers he is old, as Morgan oh-so kindly pointed out to him. 

Then she asks him about his wedding, and Steve tells her about the day he and Peggy and Daniel stood in the garden and said their vows, unable to marry each other legally, but making the commitment between the three of them. He tells her about dancing with Peggy over the years, and about laughing with Daniel. He tells her about loving them and losing them and living with them until Morgan is falling asleep in her empty mug. She still denies being tired though, and he has to chivvy her into bed.

It makes him feel young again.

Bucky turns up the next morning, and Morgan eyes him warily over her cereal. Bucky takes it in his stride. They’ve never had much contact, she only knows of him through Steve’s stories, so Bucky’s a stranger to her. Hell, most of the Avengers are. Rhodey and Peter keep in touch because they were Tony’s before they were Avengers, and Carol checks in because she and Pepper are friends. Bruce calls, but he’s a voice on a telephone and a present on her birthday and Christmas. 

And then there’s Steve. 

Steve leaves to go to the bathroom at one point and when he returns, Morgan and Bucky are staring at each other warily. Morgan looks like she’s about to attack Bucky with her spoon, which would probably impress Bucky more than intimidate him, and Bucky looks suspiciously casual.

Until Morgan says, “What’s the best story you know about Steve?”

“Define best,” Bucky raises an eyebrow.

“Most embarrassing. Duh.”

Bucky grins and evil, evil grin and Steve’s heart sinks.

“Oh sweetheart, where do I start?”

Morgan goes home after two weeks with a bag full of new art supplies, a variety of candy, and every humiliating story about Steve that Bucky knows. 

X

**Age 13**

“Steeeeeve,” Morgan whines, throwing herself across the couch. “Steeeeeeve.”

“Yes Morgan?” he replies, without looking up from the painting he’s working on. Morgan comes over twice a week to work on her art; once for her school coursework, and once just to learn from Steve. Art has turned into a passion for her, rather than the hobby he’d once thought. During school holidays, she begs him to take her to art galleries, and threatens to fly him to Paris once they’ve finished all of the museums in New York. She’s stubborn enough and sneaky enough that he suspects he’ll find himself kidnapped in his sleep one night and wake up to croissants by the Seine. 

“Steve, help me,” she declares.

“From what? The pillows?”

Morgan huffs and pushes herself up onto her elbows so she can see Steve over the arm of the couch. 

“No. I have a history project and it’s _killing_ me,” she announces.

“Killing you, huh?” Steve echoes. “Sounds painful.”

“It is,” Morgan nods solemnly. “You have to save me. It’s your duty as Captain America.”

“I’m not Captain America,” he replies automatically. 

He and Pepper had tried to keep it from her for a long time, not wishing to confuse her, but Morgan has Tony’s intelligence and curiosity and soon figured it out on her own. Still, he denies it whenever she brings it up, because it makes her mad and he likes seeing that pout and the crease between her eyes when she’s annoyed at him.

“Whatever. You still have to help me. It’s kicking my ass.”

“Do not say that. Or your mom will kick my, you know.”

“You’re allowed to say ass,” Morgan tells him.

“I know I’m allowed. But you’re not,” he counters. Morgan sticks out her tongue at him. “Why is it kicking your ass?”

“You swore!” Morgan grins.

Steve rolls his eyes.

“I swear all the time. Now, history project? What’s it about?”

“Nazis,” Morgan spits. “People are dumb.”

“People are dumb,” he agrees. “Especially Nazis.”

“Yeah, people are really dumb, especially people who say that you shouldn’t say Nazis are dumb.”

Oh boy. 

Morgan has a temper. That’s not news. That’s her parents. Tony and Pepper are both stubborn and full of fire, so it’s not surprise that Morgan’s the same. The fact that she’s been around Steve most of her life is irrelevant, no matter what Bucky says. 

“Apparently,” Morgan continues, her tone making it clear exactly how little she thinks of this, “We’ve got to respect people’s opinions and their right to free speech, even when their opinions are garbage and they’re speaking total b-“

“Morgan,” he warns.

“-bilgesnipe,” she finishes.

“A bilgesnipe is a creature, not an adjective,” Steve points out.

“Well, you won’t let me swear,” she retorts.

Steve considers this.

“Good point. Continue butchering the English language. Asgardian language. Whatever.”

“Anyway,” she continues. “Apparently we’ve got to let people have these views, because it’s their _right_ , which means somehow there’s Nazis. _Again_.”

God, Steve loves this kid. 

“What should you do with Nazis, Steve?”

“What I would do with Nazis, and what you should do with Nazis are two very different things, Morgan,” Steve replies diplomatically. “You should remain calm and talk to them, if they’re willing to listen. But if they’re never going to change their minds, you shouldn’t waste your time arguing with them. That’s what they want.”

“And what would you do?”

“I would kick them all in the ass.”

Morgan laughs, rolling over on the couch. 

“Can I watch? No, better, can I film it and upload it to YouTube. _Grandpa kicks Nazis in the ass_. It would totally go viral.”

“Not as much as the video of your mom going all Rescue on you for saying the words ass,” Steve points out. 

“She’ll only find out if you tell her,” Morgan points out, sounding far too confident in the knowledge that she has Steve wrapped around her little finger, as if he hadn’t sold his soul to the little girl with Tony’s eyes nine years ago without a moment of hesitation. 

Steve sets aside his paintbrush, finished with the painting. 

“Would you like me to help with your history project?” he offers.

“Yes, _please_ ,” she nods. 

When they’ve finished with her history project and moved on to her art, Morgan beams at him and declares, “I’m totally getting an A now. I mean, I’m citing you and you were there.”

“Glad to know I’m useful for something,” Steve grins.

Suddenly Morgan’s arms are around him, and then, just as quickly, she’s gone again. 

“Love you fifteen hundred,” she calls, dancing around the room. 

X

**Age 14**

When Steve opens his apartment and finds Morgan sitting on his couch, soaking wet and glaring at the TV, he just stares.

“What are you doing here?” he asks. 

It’s Monday. She visits on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and if the routine changes, then Pepper or Happy will call him to check first. He’s heard nothing. Besides, she’s supposed to be in school right now.

“I live here now,” Morgan declares, without looking up.

Okay.

Steve nods. He puts away the shopping in the kitchen, hands her a towel, then takes his phone into his bedroom to call Pepper. 

“Steve?”

“Hi Pepper. Just thought you should know that Morgan’s sitting on my couch, claiming that she lives here now,” he tells her.

“Oh my God,” Pepper sighs. “She said she was going to school.”

“What’s going on?” he asks. 

Pepper and Morgan are close, but they fight. He knows that. They’re so close, because for years, they were all they had. And they’re both so alike as a result. Which leads to friction. Usually Morgan would blow off steam, and then they were fine. Apparently today was not one of those days.

“We had a fight,” Pepper explains. “I found her in the garage, going through some of Tony’s old stuff. Fixing some of Tony’s old stuff.”

“So?” Steve frowns. Morgan’s a smart kid, she’s not Tony when it comes to tech, but she’s still better than most people. She has had Peter Parker in her life since she was four, after all. 

“Fixing some of Tony’s old Iron Man stuff. Specifically suit stuff.”

“Ah.”

And yeah, he gets it now. Because Pepper always struggled with Tony being Iron Man, and objectively, Steve gets it. He doesn’t agree with it, because Iron Man was such a huge part of Tony’s identity, but he gets it. And he certainly gets why Pepper objected to Morgan messing around with a suit. That is… terrifying. 

“She’s fourteen,” Pepper whispers. “I can’t lose her.”

“I’ll talk to her,” Steve promises. “I’ll have her back to you by tomorrow. I promise.”

“Thank you. Raising a kid is hard.”

“I know,” he agrees. “And I had two other parents on board with me. Pepper, you’re doing great. Take from someone who’s been through it. I’ll take care of her.” 

“Thanks Steve.”

“No problem.”

Steve hangs up and sits on the edge of the bed for a minute. He misses Daniel. The two of them were the ones who dealt with things like this. They made a hell of a team. Daniel was a hell of a guy. Then he heaves himself onto his feet and returns to Morgan. 

“So,” he says, turning off the TV and ignoring Morgan’s protests. “You found the suit, huh?

“You called my mom?” she scowls, and oh, wow, she looks just like Tony. 

“Yes, I called your mom,” Steve confirms, because he’s not going to beat around the bush, not with something like this. And he never lies to Morgan. He figures he can afford her that privilege, since he denied it to Tony for so long and irrevocably damaged their friendship as a result. 

“She’s overreacting,” Morgan insists, burrowing down into the couch.

“Is she? I don’t think so.” 

Steve picks up the towel and begins squeezing the water out of Morgan’s hair. 

“It’s not like I’m using it,” Morgan argues.

“Not yet.”

“Not yet,” she grudgingly agrees.

Steve combs his fingers through her damp hair, memories of doing this, first to his own children, and later to Morgan as a child, resurfacing with almost painful nostalgia. She’s growing up so fast. He’s afraid to blink incase he misses something.

“Think about it from her perspective,” Steve suggests. “Morgan, your dad almost died a lot wearing that suit. He did die in that suit. Your mom, she loves you more than anything in the world. Whatever you believe, believe that. Know that. She would die before watching someone hurt you. Actually, that’s not true, she’d probably kill them before they could hurt you.”

“She wore a suit too,” Morgan says quietly. “I remember. I remember playing with it. With the helmet, and I remember dad taking it off of me.”

Steve looses the ability to breathe, because he remembers that day too. That was the day he and Nat took Scott to see Tony, to see if the time heist could work. It must be one of the only memories Morgan has of her father. It makes him so angry that she was so young when Tony died. 

“She wore it once,” Steve says. “To save the world. And that was the day your dad died. Morgan, you’re fourteen. You’ve got a long time ahead of you. Enjoy being a kid. Don’t worry about being a superhero. Not yet.”

“Peter was fifteen when he became Spider-Man.”

“I know,” he replies. “I’m still having kittens about that. That kid is nuts.”

“That kid is twenty five,” Morgan points out.

“When you’re as old as me, everyone’s a kid,” Steve grins, tickling her until she squirms and laughs. 

They eat Chinese for dinner, because two hundred years old, and Steve still can’t cook for shit - a fact that Morgan and Bucky love nothing more than teaming up to remind him about. She sleeps in the spare bedroom that stopped being a spare bedroom and became Morgan’s room years ago, and the next morning, Steve convinces Bucky to deliver pancakes. Then they drive out to Pepper and Happy’s house.

Morgan gets quiet in the car, the closer they get to home. When Steve pulls into the driveway, her gaze drops to her hands.

“Hey,” he murmurs, once he’s killed the engine. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“I could be good, right?” she whispers. “I could be like him, right?”

Steve shifts uncomfortably in the seat, but it’s worth it to be able to cup her face in his hands and look into the face of the girl who may not be family, but who is definitely blood.

“I hope you never need to be like him,” he says. 

He kisses her forehead. 

“I love you two thousand,” Morgan murmurs.

“I love you infinity,” he replies.

Morgan lets herself out of the car, and Pepper appears on the porch. Steve waves and Pepper nods, watching Morgan approach. He sees their lips move and then Morgan steps into Pepper’s arms. Steve smiles. Pushing the car into gear, he reverses out of the driveway and gives them their privacy

X

**Age 16**

“Morgan?”

Steve stares down at the teenager wrapped around his waist.

“Honey, what is it?” 

She’s not crying, which is not as much of a relief as he’d like. Her face is buried in his chest and he can feel the tension in every muscle of her body. But she makes no move to tell him, so Steve just wraps his arms around her and holds her. Clearly it’s what she needs right now.

Eventually, Morgan pulls back. She steels herself before meeting his gaze, and it’s breathtaking how much she looks like Pepper suddenly. She’s strong and scared and determined, and Steve’s never been prouder. 

“I need you not to freak out,” she tells him. “Not yet. But I need you to do something.”

“Do what?” Steve frowns.

“I need you to buy a pregnancy test.”

For a second, Steve just blinks and stares at her. Then uses every ounce of his self control - and Bucky would say, when did he get one of those? - and nods. He takes his jacket off the hook, and heads to the pharmacy on the corner of the block. Here, they don’t know him as Steve Rogers, Captain America, so no one raises any eyebrows at him buying a pregnancy test. Well, not in that way at least.

“My granddaughter,” he explains to the raise eyebrow.

“Congrats.”

Steve smiles, takes the bag and returns to the apartment. He hands the test over and Morgan disappears into the bathroom. Steve exhales and all but falls onto the couch. He looks up and tells Tony, “If this is your revenge, well played Stark.”

Morgan returns.

“Five minutes,” she explains.

Steve just nods.

She sits down next to him and leans into his side, cautiously, as if she expects to be rejected. As if he ever would. Steve wraps an arm around her shoulders and Morgan burrows into him like she did when she was six. 

“Who?” he murmurs.

“Doesn’t matter. He’s an asshole. Won’t be involved,” she replies.

“Okay. But I can guarantee that’s not going to be enough for Bucky,” he warns her. Bucky’s developed a protective streak towards her over the past few years, and Steve’s had to talk him out of going after a few potential boyfriends in the past. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so quick to dissuade him.

Morgan chuckles, and hides her face in his neck.

They sit there in silence until her phone beeps. Then Morgan unfolds herself and returns to the bathroom. When she returns, Steve waits.

“Positive,” she whispers.

“What do you need?” Steve asks.

Morgan swallows, and her eyes go shiny.

“Would he be ashamed of me?” she asks.

“Oh sweetheart,” Steve shakes his head. He pulls himself to his feet, which takes longer than he’d like these days, and closes the distance between them, wrapping her up in his arms. “Nothing in the world would stop Tony from being proud of you.”

Morgan’s shoulders shake, and now she’s crying. So Steve holds her and kisses the top of her head and tells her it’s going to be okay.

He can freak out later, after she’s gone. Right after he tells Bucky to track this asshole down.

X

**Age 17**

Happy meets him at the entrance to the hospital. He looks exhausted but he’s beaming from ear to ear.

“Hey Cap, she’s gonna make you cry,” Happy informs him.

“How is she?” 

“They’re both fine,” Happy assures him, and Steve feels relief for the first time in nine months. 

He follows Happy upstairs to the maternity ward, and Pepper emerges from a room with Morgan’s name on it. She looks similarly worn but beams from ear to ear and instantly steps forward to hug Steve, which is unprecedented. 

“Hi Steve,” she smiles. 

“Hi Pepper.”

“Go on in,” she tells him, already stepping aside, Happy’s arm winding around her waist. 

Steve nods, then stops through the door, looks up, and promptly forgets how to breathe.

Because sitting up in bed is Morgan, and in her arms in a white blanket-wrapped bundle that he knows is her baby.

“Hey,” Morgan smiles. She’s beaming, so much that Steve thinks her face might break if she keeps it up. 

“Hey,” he echoes, finally remembering how to breathe. “How are you?”

“I’m amazing,” she grins. “Come and meet her.”

“Her?” Steve smiles as he moves closer, and he’s finally able to see the baby’s face, red and chubby and _beautiful_. 

“Steve, meet Natasha.”

And then Steve promptly forgets how to breathe again for the second time in five minutes. All he can do is stare at Morgan and baby Natasha and try not to cry. Happy was right. He swallows, then gives up and allows himself to cry, cry for the friend who never came home, the friend he never got to say goodbye to, the friend who sacrificed everything to save everyone.

“She’s perfect,” he whispers.

“Yeah,” Morgan nods. “She really is.”

X

**Age 18**

Steve stands proudly at the back of the room as he watches Morgan graduate top of her class. As he’d always known she would. Sometimes, while she was pregnant with Natasha, she’d doubted herself. But Steve held firm in his certainty that she would graduate, and not only graduate, but be top of her class just like her father was.

He loves being right. Even if Bucky does poke him in the ribs and hiss, “Stop looking so smug, punk.”

“Jerk,” Steve whispers, then smiles at the woman in the back row who turns to frown at them. 

He can see Pepper’s red hair mid way down, and then it’s easy to pick out Happy at her side, and Natasha in his arms. No doubt, Pepper is too busy trying to salvage her make-up to hold her granddaughter. 

That’s okay, she deserves to be emotional on a day like today. 

When the ceremony is over, Steve and Bucky hang around just long enough to give Morgan a hug and say congratulations, then they leave the family to celebrate among themselves. 

“See you tomorrow,” Steve promises her.

Then they go for pizza in Brooklyn, just the two of them, and Bucky catches Steve up on all the current Avengers gossip, and Steve pretends he’s following it. In reality, he has no clue who half of these people are anymore, not that he cares. He’s done his duty, done his time. Now, his mind is preoccupied with his grandchildren, and Morgan and Natasha. Other than Bucky and Sam, and maybe Peter Parker, he has no interest in the Avengers. 

“She’s really grown up now, ain’t she?” Bucky says suddenly.

“Yes, she has,” Steve agrees. 

“She’s a lot like him.”

“Too much at times.”

Bucky nods. 

“I wish I coulda known him. If Hydra hadn’t… I think we coulda been friends.”

“Yeah,” Steve nods. “Maybe if I’d told him in the beginning, you would’ve had that chance. Maybe a lot of things would be different.”

“Not Morgan,” Bucky says.

“No,” Steve says. “Not Morgan.”

The next day, he drives up to Pepper and Happy’s place and is greeted by the sound of Pepper and Morgan arguing. He finds them in the garage, going over old ground, coming back to whether or not Morgan should put on the suit. It always comes back to whether or not Morgan should put on the suit. 

“Morning,” Steve calls, interrupting Morgan’s diatribe. 

“Hi Steve,” Pepper smiles.

“Here,” Morgan huffs, lifting Natasha out of her bouncer and passing her to Steve. Then she turns to her mother and continues, “I don’t understand _why_ you won’t just-“

Steve smiles and shakes his head as he walks away, carrying Natasha on his hip. The baby gums on the collar of his shirt. He finds Happy on the porch, reading a paper, seemingly oblivious to the argument, still audible, in the garage.

“Morning Happy,” Steve calls.

“Morning Cap,” Happy replies.

“Haven’t been Cap in a long time,” he smiles. 

“Eh,” Happy shrugs. 

“How long do you think they’ll keep going?” Steve asks. “I give it twenty minutes."

“Nah, fifteen,” Happy says. 

“Ten bucks?”

“You got it Cap.”

Just over ten minutes later, Natasha starts to fuss in his arms. At exactly fifteen minutes, and Morgan appears on the porch and scoops Natasha out of his arms to feed her.

“Told you,” Happy shrugs, without looking up.

Steve shakes his head, and hands over ten bucks. 

He should really stop making bets.

X

**Age 22**

Steve works it out one day, because Morgan asks him. He’s two hundred and four years old. He’s seen a lot, in that time. He’s lived three lifetimes, really, when you think about it.

First, in the past, his original time. Then, when he woke in the future. And finally, the life he lived with Peggy and Daniel. 

He’s lucky, so lucky, he knows that. Luckier than most. 

But now, now he feels old. Some days he feels every day of those two hundred and four years, some days he feels twice that. And some days he feels so much younger. Those days are slipping away more and more now.

He’s tired. 

“Hello little one,” he says quietly. 

“Steve!” Natasha squeals. 

He can’t help but smile.

“Hi Steve,” Morgan says, bending to kiss his forehead. 

“Hi honey.”

“You look tired,” Morgan frowns.

“I’m old. I’m always tired,” he smiles.

“Mommy, I wanna play horsies,” Natasha declares.

“Okay. Have fun. Stay where I can see you though,” Morgan calls.

God, Steve is so proud of her. She’s done so much, _become_ so much, and she’s still got so far to go. He’s sure of it. 

“How are you both?” Steve asks, and he’d swear his chest is wheezing like it used to when he had asthma. Except for the fact it’s impossible for him to have asthma. Maybe it’s just his age.

“We’re fine. How are you?” Morgan looks concerned, and Steve wants to assure her that he’s fine, but it requires so much energy, and he doesn’t know if he has that energy to spare.

Instead he covers her hand where it rests on the arm of his chair, and squeezes gently.

Morgan swallows.

He thinks it looks like she’s gathering her courage.

“You know,” she begins, “For a long time, I was angry at my father.”

He wasn’t expecting that.

“I couldn’t understand how he could… How he could do what he did. How he could leave us. And how mom could be okay with that. And then I figured it out. He was never going to stop. He would always feel guilty, always feel like he should’ve done more. He could never just… be."

“He didn’t want to leave you,” Steve says, and it hurts, and that’s new. 

“I know,” Morgan smiles. She squeezes his hand. “I get it now. Thanks to you.

“It’s okay Steve,” she whispers, leaning close. “We’re gonna be okay. Me and Natasha. We’ve got mom, and Happy. And Peter and Bucky and uncle Rhodey. We’re gonna be okay. You can rest now."

He feels her lips against his temple, and realises his eyes are closed.

As he drifts off, he hears her say, “I love you three thousand.”

**Author's Note:**

> I debated with Morgan's baby being a boy, and being named after Tony or Steve or even Daniel. But then I realised that she should be Natasha, both after Natasha and because of Natasha Stark in Earth 3490.
> 
> Find me rambling on tumblr here: [weethreequarter](https://weethreequarter.tumblr.com)  
> 


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